Swinging arm frame lift



March 1, 1966 H HALSTEAD 3,237,723

SWINGING ARM FRAME LIFT Filed Sept. 5, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 IO/ N INVENTOR. JOHN H. HALSTEAD 6 /414,, Ma L ATTORNEYS March 1, 1966 HALSTEAD 3,237,723

SWINGING ARM FRAME LIFT Filed Sept. 5, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 4

INVENTOR. JOHN H. HALSTEAD ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,237,723 SWKNGING ARM FRAME LIFT John H. Haistead, 1024 Emory t., San Jose, Calif. Filed Sept. 5, 1963, Ser. No. 396,814 4 Claims. (6!. l378.74)

The present invention relates to vehicle lifts of the type used in garages and more particularly to frame contact lifts of the swinging arm variety.

Automobiles and trucks vary greatly in general dimensions, frame structure, and ground clearance. In garages and service stations servicing a wide variety of such vehicles it is necessary to have a vehicle lift which is sufficiently versatile to adapt to the wide range of vehicles serviced and which lift will provide maximum exposure to the undercarriage of the vehicle. Swinging arm frame contact vehicle lifts have been found to be most suited to such purposes. In using a frame contact lift, a vehicle is driven over a lowered lift and the arms and lifting pads thereof are swung to positions under frame points indicated by the vehicle manufacturer as being the most desirable contact points for lifting the particular vehicle. The superstructure of the lift is then raised by a standard lifting cylinder until it engages the vehicle frame and the vehicle is, in turn, lifted.

However, the current trend of automobile manufactures toward lower centers of gravity leads to a resulting decrease in the ground clearance of many vehicles. Further, the influx of small foreign automobiles with their extremely low undercarriages presents a considerable problem in the use of frame contact lifts over which a car or truck must be rolled or driven into position. The relatively high profile of current frame lifts and the low undercarriage of many vehicles results in premature contact between the lift and the vehicle which can be injurious to both and which tends to greatly restrict the use and versatility of current frame contact lifts.

It is therefore a main object of the present invention to provide a swinging arm frame lift so constructed as to present an extremely low profile in order to allow vehicles with very little ground clearance to pass thereover and which at the same time is strong enough to lift the heaviest of automobiles and even light trucks.

In using a swinging arm frame lift it is slightly time consuming to position each of the plurality of arms individually. In order to make such an operation as expeditious aspossible, it is necessary that each arm swing freely and offer little resistance to the operator. In swinging arm lifts where there is substantial contact between the arm and the arm support, or bolster plate, the inherent friction is prohibitive of easy operation. The arms become even more difficult to move when dirt or grit becomes lodged between the sliding engaging surfaces of the arm and bolster plate. Various attempts have been made to overcome the friction factor such as providing bearings between the engaging surfaces or plastic discs with smooth mating surfaces but such expediences are relatively temporary and wear out under the stress of heavy loads and by the abrasive effect of dirt and grit. It is, therefore, another object of this invention to provide a frame lift superstructure of simple, durable, long lasting construction which will have very little frictional resistance to the swinging of the arms and which will operate under adverse conditions.

It should be obvious that if the swinging arms give or deflect to any appreciable degree when a vehicle is lifted, higher portions of the lift structure may rise into contact with and damage the undercarriage of the vehicle being lifted. Thus, it is yet another object of the present invention to provide a lift superstructure in which the swinging arms are supported firmly on the bolster plate and which "ice do not have any built-in deflection and resists deflecting under the weight of a vehicle.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the description and from the drawings.

In the drawings,

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the frame lift superstructure of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the structure of FIG. 1 as seen from the lower edge of FIG. 1, the surface or floor over which the lift is supported being shown in cross section.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken substantially along line 33 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a greatly enlarged cross-sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 1.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, the lift superstructure of this invention is adapted to be used in conjunction with a standard hydraulic or hydro-pneumatic lifting cylinder, generally designated 1, which may be embedded in the floor 2 and sub-floor of the facility in which the lift is being used.

The upper end of the reciprocating piston 3 of lifting cylinder 1 is in engagement with the lower surface of the central bolster plate 5 of the lift superstructure and is secured thereto by a plurality of bolts 4 (FIG. 1) or the like which extend through said bolster from the upper surface thereof. Bolster plate 5 is horizontally disposed and of a generally rectangular shape, and is shorter in its longest dimension than the wheel base width of the narrowest vehicle with which the lift is to be used. Near each of the corners of bolster plate 5 is a marginal edge portion in the form of a depressed ledge 6 which may be integrally formed with said bolster plate or may be Welded onto said plate as shown in FIG. 3. Ledges 6 are arcuately formed about connecting points on the vertical axes of pivot pins 9 and said ledges are spaced outwardly of said points. The upper surface of ledge 6 is in a lower horizontal plane than the upper surface of the remainder of bolster plate 5, and said upper surface of said ledge and said upper surface of said bolster plate are connected by an arcuately formed inclined surface 7 (FIGS. 1, 3).

Each pin 9 has an enlarged diameter fiat base 10 on its lower end and is pivotally received in a bore 11 in bolster plate 5, which bore is counterbored to accommodate base It As seen in FIG. 3, the flat lower end of base 10 of pin 9 is substantially coplanar with the lower surface of bolster plate 5. The reduced diameter, upper end 12 of each pin 9 is threaded and is threadedly received in the inner end portion of a swinging arm, generally designated 14. Each pin 9 is a connecting means for swingably securing the inner end portion 15 of arm 14 to bolster plate 5 at spaced points thereon and it should be noted that said pin spaces said inner end portion of said arm above the upper surface of said bolster plate. Pin 9 terminates in a flat upper end which is substantially coplanar with the upper surface of inner end portion 15. It can be seen that pin 9 does not extend in vertical dimension beyond the limits of the lower surface of bolster plate 5 and the upper surface of the inner portion 15 of arm 14 and thus does not add to the vertical height of the lift superstructure.

Arms 14 may be formed of a single piece of shaped steel or they may be fabricated, as illustrated in the drawings, of several pieces of steel rigidly secured together, as by welding, and providing upper surfaces thereof in at least two vertically spaced horizontal planes, the outer surface being lower than the inner surface.

Inner end portions 15 of arms 14 extend radially outwardly of pins 9, past depressed ledges 6, and terminate at a point sufiiciently remote from the edge of bolster plate 5 to allow outer end portions 16 of said arms to be secured thereto in underlapping relation. A marginal portion 17 of each outer end portion 16, which is intermediate the inner and outer ends of arms 14 on the lower surface thereof, is adapted to slidably engage and be supported on the upper surface of the depressed ledge 6, adjacent thereto. The inner edge 18 of outer end portion 16 is arcuately formed and is inclined to cooperate with inclined surface 7 so that the only actual point of contact between arms 14 and bolster plate 5 is the point of sliding engagement between the upper surface of ledge 6 and the intermediate portion 17 of said arms. It can be seen that inner edge 18 and surface '7 may just as well be vertical surfaces.

Rigidly secured to the undersurface of outer end portion 16 is an elongated reinforcing member 21 (FIGS. 3, 4). Member 21 is somewhat shorter than outer end portion 16 and extends inwardly, toward bolster plate 5, a sufficient distance to underlap inner end portion 15. The outer end of member 21 terminates short of the outer end of outer end portion 16. The lower surface of member 21 is substantially coplanar with the lower surface of bolster plate 5.

Inner and outer end portions 15, 16 may be of substantially the same width, which is as narrow as possible, considering the loads which the vehicle lift must support. It has been found that with the present structure the arms 14- need not exceed five inches in width which does not substantially obstruct access to the undercarriage of a vehicle being supported by the lift. Reinforcing members 21 are somewhat narrower than the remainder of arms id (FIG. 4).

Slidably supported, outwardly of inner end portion 15, on each outer end portion 16 is an elongated slide .22 which is adapted to move longitudinally of outer err-r. portion 16 and thereby ext nd the length of arms 14. As

seen in FIG. 4, slide 22 is basically channel shaped with inwardly directed flanges 23 opposite the web 24 thereof which extend around the lateral edges of outer end portion 16 and inwardly for a short distance along the undersurface thereof. A plate 25 secured across the outer end of slide 22 helps limit the inward movement of said slide on portion 16.

Slidably supported on each slide 22 for longitudinal movement thereon is a vehicle frame engaging pad assembly 2'7. Each pad assembly 27 includes a shoe 28 which is considerably shorter than slide 22 but is of the same general configuration. Shoe 28 has inwardly directed flanges 29 opposite the web 30 thereof which extend around the lateral edges of slide 22 and under the flanges 23 thereof. Outward movement of shoe 2% on slide 22 is limited by plate 25 across the end of slide 22 which plate projects above the upper surface of said slide.

Rotatably mounted on the upper surface of web 39 of shoe 28 is a jack mounting bracket 32 (FIG. 4). Mounting bracket 32 is supported for rotation by means of a short pivot pin 31 (FIG. 4), the lower end of which is rigidly secured in an aperture in web 31? of shoe 28. The upper end of pin 31 is flared to cooperate with a countersunk aperture in the web 3.; of mounting bracket 3.2.

The vertical flanges 3 3- of bracket 32 are apertured to receive a pair of horizontal, parallel pins 37 (FIGS. 3, 4). Pins 37 swinga'bly connect the cars 38 of a pair of jacks 39 to the mounting bracket.

Each of the jacks 39 of a pad assembly 27 are of different lengths and are adapted to be swung through an obtuse angle from a horizontal position to an upright position and held there for contacting and supporting the frame of a vehicle. Jacks 39 can also be used with each of them in the lowered position and in any case the pad 27 has an upper surface adapted to engage a vehicle. Pad 27 extends slightly above the upper surface of inner portion 15.

In operation a vehicle is first driven over the lift superstructure. Arms 14 are then swung to proper angular dispositions and the slides 22 are extended or retracted and the shoes 28 are moved along slides 22 to properly position the lifting pad assemblies 27 under the manufacturers recommended contact points on the vehicle frame. In order to properly position the jacks 3d, the mounting bracket 32 can be rotated. The jacks 39 can be used in either a horizontal position or with one or the other of said jacks in a raised position depending on th location and accessibility of the frame contact points. When the pads 27 are properly positioned the lifting cylinder is activated to raise the vehicle lift into contact with the frame of the vehicle and thus lift the vehicle.

Because of the compact size of bolster plate 5, and the relative narrowness of arms 14, very little of the undercarriage of the vehicle on the lift is obscured.

It can be seen that, since there is minimal contact between arms 14 and bolster plate 5, there is little resistance to swinging arms li in a horizontal plane.

It should be understood that in order to swing arms 14 freely, they must not contact the floor 2 over which they are swingably mounted (FIG. 2). In this respect the low profile of the present vehicle lift becomes even more important for, in many installations, the floor 2 over which the lift is mounted will have a slope in it for the purpose of drainage. Thus the lift superstructure must be supported high enough above the floor to allow the arm lid nearest thereto to swing freely. In effect, this will cause certain of arms 14 to extend higher above the surface of the floor, thereby reducing the effective ground clearance of a vehicle passing thereover. In vehicle lifts of higher profile either the height of the lift would considerably restrict its usefulness or certain of the arms will have to rest on the surface over which they are supported, making positioning of said arms difficult.

It should be understood that the above detailed description discloses the preferred form of the present invention but it is not intended to be limiting, as other forms and modifications may occur to those skilled in the art which do not depart from the spirit of this invention and which come within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A vehicle lift superstructure, comprising:

(a) a central bolster plate, having generally horizontal upper and lower surfaces, adapted to be supported with its lower surface on the upper end of a lifting cylinder;

(b) said bolster plate having marginal edge portions of said upper surface each spaced radially outwardly of each of a plurality of spaced connectng points thereon;

(c) a plurality of elongated arms, each having inner and outer end portions and upper and lower surfaces;

(d) said inner end portions of each of said arms extending over one of said points on said bolster plate with the lower surface of an intermediate portion of each said arm in sliding engagement with the corresponding edge portion of said bolster plate;

(e) means pivotally connecting said inner end portion of each said arm to said bolster plate with the outer end portion thereof extending radialy outwardly of said bolster plate for swinging in a generally horizontal plane and for supporting a vehicle on the outer end portions of said arms;

(f) said connecting means being confined between said lower surface of said bolster plate and said upper surface of said inner end portions of said arms;

(g) the upper surfaces of said marginal edge portions of said bolster plate are depressed below the upper surface of the remainder of said bolster plate; and,

(h) the lower surfaces of said in ermediate portions of said arms are below the lower surfaces of said inner end portions thereof.

2. A vehicle lift superstructure, comprising:

(a) a central bolster plate, having generally horizontal upper and lower surfaces, adapted to be supported with its lower surface on the upper end of a lifting cylinder;

(b) said bolster plate having marginal edge portions of said upper surface each spaced radially outwardly of each of a plurality of spaced connecting points thereon;

(c) a plurality of elongated arms, each having inner and outer end portions and upper and lower surfaces;

((1) said inner end portions of each of said arms extending over one of said points on said bolster plate with the lower surface of an intermediate portion of each said arm in sliding engagement with the corresponding edge portion of said bolster plate;

(e) means pivotally connecting said inner end portion of each said arm to said bolster plate with the outer end portion thereof extending radially outwardly of said bolster plate for swinging in a generally horizontal plane and for supporting a vehicle on the outer end portions of said arms;

(f) said connecting means being confined between said lower surface of said bolster plate and said upper surface of said inner end portions of said arms;

(g) said lower surface of said inner end portion of each of said arms is spaced above said upper surface of said bolster plate.

3. In a frame contact vehicle lift including: a lifting cylinder, a horizontally disposed central bolster plate secured to the upper end of said cylinder, and a plurality of horizontally disposed, radially outwardly extending, elongatedv arms each having an inner end portion which extends over said bolster plate for pivotal connection thereto and an outer end portion which slidably receives thereon a vehicle frame engaging pad, the improvement comprising:

(a) means pivotally connecting said inner end portion of each of said arms at spaced points to said bolster plate and supporting the outer end portion of each said arm for swinging in a generally horizontal plane and for supporting a vehicle thereon;

(b) said connecting and supporting means being confined within the dimensional limits of the upper surface of said inner end portions of said arms and the lower surface of said bolster plate;

(c) a ledge carried by said bolster plate spaced outwardly of each of said points;

(d) each of said arms including a portion intermediate the ends thereof having its lower surface slidably engaging said ledge for supporting said arm thereon; and

(e) said outer end portion of each of said arms is in a lower horizontal plane that said inner end portion.

4. In a frame contact vehicle lift including: a lifting cylinder, a horizontally disposed central bolster plate secured to the upper end of said cylinder, and a plurality of horizontally disposed, radially outwardly extending, elongated arms each having an inner end portion which extends over said bolster plate for pivotal connection thereto and an outer end portion which slidably receives thereon a vehicle frame engaging pad, the improvement comprising:

(a) means pivotally connecting said inner end portion of each of said arms at spaced points to said bolster plate and supporting the outer end portions of each said arm for swinging in a generally horizontal plane and for supporting a vehicle thereon;

(b) said connecting and supporting means being confined within the dimensional limits of the upper surface of said inner end portions of said arms and the lower surface of said bolster plate;

(c) a ledge carried by said bolster plate spaced outwardly of each of said points;

(d) each of said arms including a portion intermediate the ends thereof having its lower surface slidably engaging said ledge for supporting said arm thereon; and,

(e) each said ledge is depressed below the upper surface of said bolster plate and is arcuately formed about each said point.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,949,978 8/ 1960 Halstead 1878.75 2,958,395 11/1960 Wallace 1878.75 3,036,662 '5/1962 Pelouch l878.75

SAMUEL F. COLEMAN, Primary Examiner. 

1. A VEHICLE LIFT SUPERSTRUCTURE, COMPRISING: (A) A CENTRAL BOLSTER PLATE, HAVING GENERALLY HORIZONTAL UPPER AND LOWER SURFACES, ADAPTED TO BE SUPPORTED WITH ITS LOWER SURFACE ON THE UPPER END OF A LIFTING CYLINDER; (B) SAID BOLSTER PLATE HAVING MARGINAL EDGE PORTIONS OF SAID UPPER SURFACE EACH SPACED RADIALLY OUTWARDLY OF EACH OF A PLURALITY OF SPACED CONNECTING POINTS THEREON; (C) A PLURALITY OF ELONGATED ARMS, EACH HAVING INNER AND OUTER END PORTIONS AND UPPER AND LOWER SURFACES; (D) SAID INNER END PORTIONS OF EACH OF SAID ARMS EXTENDING OVER ONE OF SAID POINTS ON SAID BOLSTER PLATE WITH THE LOWER SURFACE OF AN INTERMEDIATE PORTION OF EACH SAID ARM IN SLIDING ENGAGEMENT WITH THE CORRESPONDING EDGE PORTION OF SAID BOLSTER PLATE; (E) MEANS PIVOTALLY CONNECTING SAID INNER END PORTION OF EACH SAID ARM TO SAID BOLSTER PLATE WITH THE OUTER END PORTION THEREOF EXTENDING RADIALY OUTWARDLY OF SAID BOLSTER PLATE FOR SWINGING IN A GENERALLY HORIZONTAL PLANE AND FOR SUPPORTING A VEHICE ON THE OUTER END PORTIONS OF SAID ARMS; (F) SAID CONNECTING MEANS BEING CONFINED BETWEEN SAID LOWER SURFACE OF SAID BOLSTER PLATE AND SAID UPPER SURFACE OF SAID INNER END PORTIONS OF SAID ARMS; (G) THE UPPER SURFACES OF SAID MARGINAL EDGE PORTIONS OF SAID BOLSTER PLATE ARE DEPRESSED BELOW THE UPPER SURFACE OF THE REMAINER OF SAID BOLSTER PLATE; AND, (H) THE LOWER SURFACES OF SAID INTERMEDIATE PORTIONS OF SAID ARMS ARE BELOW THE LOWER SURFACES OF SAID INNER END PORTIONS THEREOF. 